Flashback: When SEC put six teams in NCAA tourney

Relieve Auburn's 1998-99 season in which the Tigers finished 29-4 and won the SEC regular season title for the first time in school history. Game footage credit: ESPN, CBS, Jefferson-Pilot.
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Billy Donovan cuts down the net after Florida beat UCLA, 73-57, in the Final Four national championship basketball game in Indianapolis, Monday April 3, 2006.(Photo11: AP Photo/Ann Heisenfelt)

The conference received a record eight bids to this year’s NCAA Tournament.

The previous SEC record was six, which last happened in 2008. The league also received that number of bids in 2006, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999 and 1987.

On those nine occasions, only two SEC teams made the Final Four — Florida and LSU.

Joakim Noah did a lot of screaming, yelling and hard playing in helping Florida win back-to-back national tiles(Photo11: USA TODAY)

The Gators won the first of back-to-back national championships in 2006. Joakim Noah doing all that yelling. The Tigers made the Final Four that same year, too.

Glen "Big Baby" Davis was a monster out there.

In 2000, Florida reached the national semifinals with a young Billy Donovan coaching a bunch of freshmen and sophomores led by Mike Miller and Udonis Haslem.

Another fun fact from those years. At least one SEC team lost to an eventual national champion in five NCAA tourneys.

Big names. Big games. One shining moments. Here’s how the SEC fared when having six teams in the NCAA Tournament. (Seeds are in brackets).

Ramon Harris #34 and Joe Crawford #32 of the Kentucky Wildcats fight Lazar Hayward #32 of the Marquette Golden Eagles for rebound position during the West Region first round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament at the Honda Center on March 20, 2008 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images)(Photo11: Lisa Blumenfeld, Getty Images)

Reflections: UK being 7-0 in games decided by five points or less before losing to UAB. Vanderbilt all-time leading scorer Matt Freije dropping 31 on N.C. State. Manhattan dominating what was once the top-ranked Gators led by David Lee.

Impressive run: Alabama beat 30-win Stanford and defending national champion Syracuse before falling to a stacked UConn squad led by Emeka Okafor and Ben Gordon.

Marco Killingsworth and Marquis Daniels delivered for Auburn in the Tigers' run to the Sweet 16.(Photo11: Associated Press)

Reflections: Marquis Daniels leading Auburn to Sweet 16 before losing to Carmelo Anthony and the Orange by one. John Brady calling two TOs in 58 seconds and drawing a technical in that Purdue disaster. Butler being Butler with Brandon Miller’s winner with 6.2 seconds to upset Mississippi State.

Young guns: With seven freshmen and sophomores in its10-man rotation, Florida beat three teams that at the time had a total of seven national titles between them to reach the national title game.

Auburn's Doc Robinson (50) and Coach Cliff Ellis watch as the Tigers downed Oklahoma St. 81-74 in the second round of the NCAA South Regional in Indianapolis Saturday afternoon March 13.(Photo11: Al Behrman, Copyright 1999 The Times Shreveport)

Reflections: Auburn being the only one seed not to make Final Four. Casey Calvary’s tap-in lifting Gonzaga past the Gators. Mississippi winning its first game ever in NCAA Tournament. UT shot 29.5 percent in its 30-point loss to Missouri State.

Wally World: Wally Szczerbiak becoming a household name in leading Miami (Ohio) to the Sweet 16, but fell to the defending national champions. Szczerbiak scored 23 on 8-of-16 shooting. Rest of the team scored 20 on 6-of-28 shooting.

With Rick Pitino as their head coach, Billy Donovan and Delray Brooks each hit five 3-pointers in Providence's win over Alabama in the 1987 NCAA Tournament.(Photo11: AP)

Reflections: Rick Calloway, in his hometown, hit the game winner with 6 seconds left to beat LSU and put Indiana in the Final Four. Willie Anderson scored 35 points in Georgia’s loss to Kansas Sate.

Three ball: In the first year the 3-point shot was universally used by all schools, Billy Donovan, as a player at Providence, and Delray Brooks combined for 49 points and 10 3s (each hit five) in ripping Alabama.